HM Plant Honda's Steve Plater is back to his main duty of concentrating on the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship and leaving the Superbike challenge back in the hands of the debuting Josh Brookes.
Plater qualified eighth overall yesterday with a time in the 1’39s, his fastest lap of the weekend. Plater said: “I am happy to be on one bike this weekend, it is one of the most difficult circuits I would have been difficult if I had to swap between bikes.  This is circuit you can’t do that on and I am contracted for the Supersport, if I had to ride two bikes that could have affected my results, which may have been a problem later in the season.”
Honda have really upped their game regarding the Supersport category to help promote sales, as it is recognised that the sale of a 600cc may be more targeted by buyers than a 1000cc.
Regarding his weekend at the technical Cheshire circuit Plater said: “It has been good, Saturday morning was a case of me getting my head back into gear following the Brands Weekend and the Le Mans.  I’ve gone quicker throughout the weekend, but it’s been really hard to get a clear track.”
“There is a strong line up and this year is certainly faster.  Last Year [Glen] Richards and [Hudson] Kennaugh were consistently at the front and other riders shone now again, but this year there are so many riders that are so close and you’ve got to push harder all the time.”
After Oulton Park the Woodhall Spa based rider’s timetable is constantly packed with him flying to Belfast for a press conference this week before coming back for the Thundersprint race, followed by the famous North West road race before continuing his Supersport challenge at Donington Park at the end of May.